The large foods and consumer durable supermarket barons of the west will focus on Romania and Bulgaria over the next five years, as these countries are expected to post the highest development level in this field among all the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a survey conducted by London-based consultancy firm Marketpower.
This evolution is based on two factors. First, the lag posted by Romania and Bulgaria as compared to neighbouring countries, in relation with Western packaging standards.
Second, we are witnessing a genuine "siege" operated by big Western supermarket chains on the two markets, especially in Romania. These companies are rather in favour of "personalised" packaging and that is why, whenever they penetrate a new business area, they are immediately followed by their main packaging suppliers from the West.
"We believe that, as far as packaging is concerned, Romania will attract investments exceeding 100 million dollars over the next five years, especially since all the big names in the foodstuffs industry have decided to open subsidiaries in this country," says Andrew McCormick, an analyst with Marketpower.
Growing demand for packaging in Eastern Europe "is simply dwarfing the earlier high-growth figures achieved by leading Asian countries," although there continue to be commercial problems and some packaging companies have been disappointed with results to date, McCormick adds.
From a technical point of view, the packaging market is divided into two sectors: primary packaging (aimed mainly at the foodstuffs industry) and auxiliary packaging (boxes, sheets, metallic strips).
The market for auxiliary packaging in Romania is estimated at around 20-25 million dollars annually, and, although domestic producers have been developing lately, it is 60 percent supported by imports.
The percentage of imports is even higher on the primary packaging market, amounting to 90 percent, since the main players (specialised in making packages for liquid foodstuffs), such as Tetra Pak (the Netherlands) or Combibloc (Germany), have not opened any plants in Romania yet.
For instance, milk and juice made in Romania are packed in paperboard boxes imported from Hungary (Tetra Pak) or Germany (Combibloc).
The speed of introduction of Western type goods is creating a form of leap-frog advance in packaging materials as well as the use of more graphics. Therefore, Marketpower speaks in terms of 22 percent annual growth averages for decorated containers.
The current gap between plain and printed corrugated is only four percent in favour of Western Europe. The move toward more graphics is likely to be boosted further by the still new appearance of sheet plants.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
